Mystery History -- Solved!

Roberta wins with her 10:58 a.m. Tuesday guess "Pasadena Playhouse with College of Theater Arts students?"

In the circa 1957 photo above, actors take a break from their classes at the Pasadena Playhouse.

It all began when Gilmore Brown had a vision for a community theater in 1917.

The Community Players offered performances in facilities throughout Pasadena.

In 1924 the cornerstone was laid for the new Pasadena Playhouse. This panoramic photo shows the ceremony. Notice the huge megaphone on the right. Vo-dee-oh-doh!



Four years later, Brown established the Pasadena Playhouse College of Theater Arts, famously known as The Star Factory. Students earned bachelor's and master's degrees in acting, directing, production and more.

World premieres of plays by Eugene O’Neill, William Saroyan, Noel Coward, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Tennessee Williams helped cement the Pasadena Playhouse's identity as one of the finest live theaters in the nation.

Here are two early photos of the interior (note the painters in the first one):

From the 1930s to the 1960s, dozens of actors were discovered by Hollywood while they were students at the Pasadena Playhouse, including Eve Arden, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Raymond Burr, Robert Young, Sally Struthers, Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman and many more.

In 1937, due to the fame it brought to California as a center for dramatic arts, the Pasadena Playhouse was named The State Theatre of California by unanimous vote of the legislature.

The building itself has been designated as a historic landmark.

The College of Theatre Arts closed in 1969 but the Pasadena Playhouse lives on as a world-class theater that features plays and musicals, many of them bound for Broadway over the years, and still starring renowned actors.

Most recently, a revival of Cole Porter's "Can-Can" that premiered at the Pasadena Playhouse will debut on Broadway next year.

Here it is on the Playhouse stage:

Many thanks to the Pasadena Playhouse and Pasadena Museum of History.

Mystery History

Where are we? And what's happening?

 

The first person to guess correctly will win lunch with me -- I'll buy yours and you'll buy mine.

 

Remember, leave your brief guess as a comment on this blog but don't try to give the entire back story (that's my job).

 

I'll have the full scoop on Thursday. 

Mystory History -- Solved!

Wanda wins with her 12:26 p.m. Tuesday guess " Central Library in Library Park?"

In the photo above, demolition is underway of the Pasadena Public Library.

The next photo with the bicycles in front of the library is well known to many of us, but I found this one printed on a piece of cloth in the Pasadena Museum of History archival file.

The library was located at Library Park, now called Memorial Park. The building is in the left background in this photo:

An interior shot:

I did a related Mystery History post on my Pasadena PIO blog in 2009, so you can see more there, including what's left of the building.

Mystery History

 

Where are we? And what's happening?

 

The first person to guess correctly will win lunch with me -- I'll buy yours and you'll buy mine.

 

Remember, leave your brief guess as a comment on this blog but don't try to give the entire back story (that's my job).

 

I'll have the full scoop on Thursday.

LitFest Pasadena is Back!

Last year the inaugural LitFest Pasadena was a great success with hundreds of people coming to Central Park for a full slate of activities that made everybody's day.

 Petrea took this sweet photo:

This year LitFest Pasadena 2.0 Saturday, May 11, from 10 to 5 p.m. at Central Park will feature more than 80 renowned authors and performers and 40 exhibitors including some of your favorite publishers, bookstores and cultural institutions.

There will be a full day of readings, panel discussions, performances, book signings, children's activities, good food, better books and family-friendly fun, all aimed at promoting the literary arts.

One of the many panels will be a back-to-back powerhouse event with four world-class authors discussing their experiences writing in LaLa Land: Mona Simpson, Michelle Huneven, Jerry Stahl and Gary Phillips.

Among the performances: History Lit will present "Two Pictures in One," a half-hour play written by Paul Millet based on a short story by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

And children will delight in the Bob Baker Marionettes as well as many other performances and activities perfect for their age group.

Oh, and LitFest Pasadena is free!

You'll find a full schedule of panels, performances, children's activities and much more info at www.litfestpasadena.org.

Invite your Facebook friends!

Springtime at Arlington Garden

Yesterday I had a nice visit at Arlington Garden, where the woman in the photo above was enjoying a leisurely stroll.

 

I was there to meet with Chuck Hudson, who serves on the board of the West Pasadena Residents' Association. We had been trying to get together for some time to discuss...well, I'll save that for later.

 

 

Arlington Garden is at 235 Arlington Dr. at Pasadena Avenue.

 

After Chuck left, I spent an hour or so meandering through this magnificent piece of heaven on earth and Pasadena's only dedicated public garden. I hadn't been there in a few months.

 

Dozens of intertwining pathways lead through three spectacular acres. Whether you're a hardy hiker or need a little ADA action, Arlington Garden can accommodate you.

 

 

You'll find pleasant surprises around every corner.

 

 

 

Benches, tables with umbrellas, comfortable chairs and bright pots invite visitors to slow down and stay awhile.

 

 

 

There are several entrances. This one on the Arlington Drive side has a few steps, but if you prefer flat surfaces there are plenty of those entrances as well. 

 

Some brief history: Formerly the site of the Durand Estate, the land sat vacant for more than 40 years after the mansion was demolished in the early 1960s. Pasadena City Councilman Steve Madison hosted a series of community meetings in 2004 to give residents the opportunity to provide input on potential uses.

 

When no consensus could be reached, Pasadena residents Charles "Kicker" and Betty McKenney came up with an inspired idea: create a Mediterranean demonstration garden. The City of Pasadena began leasing the land from Caltrans and students from Cal Poly Pomona created the conceptual drawings that helped guide the garden’s future direction.

 

Under Kicker and Betty's superb leadership and with support from Pasadena Water and Power, Pasadena Public Works Department, Steve Madison, dozens of donors, volunteers and others, the huge blank canvas was slowly and lovingly transformed into a beautiful refuge teeming with drought-tolerant trees and thousands of plant species native to Southern California or otherwise suited to our semi-arid climate.

 



It's now certified by the National Wildlife Federation (ducks, birds and butterflies, not bears or bobcats!).

 

Kicker and Betty are at Arlington Garden frequently, so be sure to say hello if you see them when you visit. (Photo credit for this shot only: Pasadena Now)

 

 

At this time of year the nearly 50 Washington navel orange trees are in bloom, which means it won't be long before a fresh batch of Arlington Garden Sweet Orange Marmalade will be available!

 

 

Beginning at the opening of the classic seven-circuit labyrinth, walk slowly and thoughtfully all the way to the center and then retrace your steps. Many find it a contemplative and peaceful experience.

 

 

Ready to take your own tour of Arlington Garden? There's an app for that!

Some words of advice:

* Clean up after Rover and keep him on a leash.

* There are no restrooms, so "go" before you come.

* Bringing food in? Take your trash out with you.

* No smoking!

* Stay as long as you like, sunrise to sunset, 365 days a year.

 

If you'd like to volunteer at Arlington Garden or donate dollars or materials, please click here.

 

Gardens help sustain us physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

They differ from parks in that plants and trees provide the focal point in a garden.

You won’t find play structures or merry-go-rounds here. . .

A middle school student wrote that she likes Arlington Garden

‘because I can hear my thoughts here.' -- Betty McKenney

Mystery History -- Solved!

Well, I stumped everybody this week.

 

In the 1883 photo above, four women wait their turn in front of the Ferndale Gallery, Pasadena's first photo studio (note the photographs on display).

 

The business had been established the year before by George Weingarth, Pasadena's first professional photographer. He was among the settlers who founded the Indiana Colony.

 

In addition to portraits, Pasadena landscapes and buildings were photographed by Weingarth and they have become iconic, including these*:

 

 

 

 

 While doing my research for this post, I learned there are no documented photographs of Weingarth. He preferred to stay behind the camera.

 

According to my favorite reference book about local history, "Pasadena: Historical and Personal" by John Windell Wood, Weingarth was among an impressive list of firsts:

 

The first drug store was the Pasadena Pharmacy, conducted by this writer.

The first postmaster was Henry T. Hollingsworth, appointed September 21st, 1876.

The first bank was the Pasadena Bank, organized November 21st, 1884. It began business January 12, 1885. P.M. Green, president.

The first "practicing" barber was A.S. Hollingsworth, who had a chair in the corner of his father's store. The first shop was opened on North Fair Oaks Avenue in 1883 by a man named Rossi, and afterwards moved to West Colorado Street; later purchased by Joe Laspada, who still owns it.

The first harness shop was owned by Harry C. Price, who opened up in 1883.

The first photographer was George Weingarth, who opened the "Ferndale Gallery" in 1882. Some of the old pictures in this book were from his photographs.

The first real estate dealer was T.P. Lukens.

The first bicycle shop was owned by Ed Braley just where his fine four-story building now stands.

The first lumber yard was started by J. Banbury. The office stood where the Metcalf Building now is -- on Colorado Street, by the Santa Fe tracks -- 1883.

 

* Fair Oaks looking north from Colorado, 1884; Arroyo Vista Guest House (c 1883); Orange Grove at California looking south (1883)

 

 

Many thanks to Pasadena Public Library and Pasadena Museum of History.



 

Mystery History

 

Where are we? And what's happening?

 

The first person to guess correctly will win lunch with me -- I'll buy yours and you'll buy mine.

 

Remember, leave your brief guess as a comment on this blog but don't try to give the entire back story (that's my job).

 

I'll have the full scoop on Thursday.

Mystery History -- Solved!

Petrea wins with her 9:33 p.m. Wednesday guess "...these are students at Ambassador College, on the little bridge that crosses the waterfall..."  

In the 1985 photo above, a couple stands on a bridge overlooking the waterfall flowing into the stream that runs through the Ambassador College campus.

Founded in 1947 by Herbert W. Armstrong, Ambassador College was a four-year liberal arts college that became the headquarters of Worldwide Church of God.

Various lots were consolidated within a four-block area at the time to incorporate several mansions dating from 1905 to the 1920s along the east side of "Millionaires Row" on South Orange Grove Boulevard. These became the campus buildings.

 

 

("Millionaires Row" also includes such iconic homes as the Wrigley Mansion, Fenyes Mansion and Gamble House, though these are not on the Ambassador property.)

As the college population grew, more structures became necessary, including additional classrooms, administrative offices, dorms and television studios.

The architecture and planning firm Daniel, Mann, Johnson and Mendenhall (DMJM) was commissioned in 1963 to develop the campus master plan that includes the mid-century modern structures we all know well today. . .

 . . .and the magnificent Ambassador Auditorium, built in 1972 and known as the Carnegie Hall of the West.

I had the privilege of seeing performances at Ambassador Auditorium by Leontyne Price, Jessye Norman, Cecilia Bartoli, Mel Torme, Yo-Yo Ma and so many others. (And it was the site of "Hollywood Week" during this season's American Idol.)

Landscape architect Garrett Eckbo designed Ambassador College's lush gardens, walkways, fountains and the stream, all of which are an iconic part of the Pasadena landscape to this day .

 

 

 

 

 

 A change in the tithing policy for Worldwide Church of God abruptly sent the funding for Ambassador College and Ambassador Auditorium into a nosedive.

As a result, Ambassador College and Ambassador Auditorium closed in 1997* and the educational functions were consolidated with operations in Big Sandy, Texas.

Worldwide Church of God put the 49-acre campus on the market in 1999,

Maranatha High School purchased part of the south portion near Del Mar and St. John Avenue in 2004 and moved there from the William Carey University campus (which is in my 'hood).

That same year Ambassador Auditorium, on St. John Avenue near Green Street, was saved when it was purchased by Harvest Rock Church, which conducts services there. It is also the venue for concerts and other events, including Pasadena Symphony concerts.

The City of Pasadena's West Gateway Specific Plan encourages thoughtful development with a focus on arts, culture and education in areas immediately west of downtown Pasadena.

Here are the boundaries of the specific plan; the former Ambassador campus is between Orange Grove Boulevard and St. John Avenue, from Green Street to the north to Del Mar Boulevard to the south .

After a series of fits and starts, including the foreclosure of one developer's interests and the scrapping of plans for a senior complex when that company pulled out, City Ventures purchased much of what is now known as Ambassador West in 2010 for market-rate residential projects.

Construction is underway on the Del Mar side near Orange Grove (I shot this photo yesterday afternoon):

Another proposed project is in the permitting phase for a portion along Orange Grove south of Green Street.

A third project, proposed near the Italian Gardens on the Green Street side near Orange Grove, is well on its way through design review.

And there is another in the initial planning stages for the Green Street side near St. John Avenue.

The Ambassador West plan, approved by the City Council in 2007, calls for the preservation of two acres of existing park-like open space as well as the stream, historic gardens and mansions plus 80 percent of the trees.
 

*Radio and television broadcasts of Armstrong's "The World Tomorrow" program were taped in state-of-the-art studios on the Ambassador College campus. I was wowed when I saw the studio facilities for the first time. When the campus operations closed in 1997 I literally begged Ambassador College brass to donate the TV cameras, anchor desks and other equipment to KPAS, but no such luck.

Many thanks to Pasadena Museum of History, The Cultural Landscape Foundation, City of Pasadena, West Pasadena Residents' Association and Downtown Pasadena Neighborhood Association.